Saad Hariri Steps Up Hizbullah Criticism

Future Movement of former Lebanese PM Hariri has upped its campaign against Hizbullah, says it has taken Lebanon "to the abyss."

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Gabe Kahn., 25/08/11 18:57

Saad Hariri

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Former Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri's Future Movement has stepped up its campaign against Hizbullah, saying it has taken Lebanon "to the abyss."

Hizbullah has “placed itself and the government in confrontation with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the international community. It is taking Lebanon to the abyss by turning it into a rebellious state in opposition with international legitimacy,” Future Movement secretary-general Ahmad Hariri said Wednesday.

“Lebanese are astounded by a government that lacks harmony and ministerial solidarity because it was established on the basis of a set of contradictions,” Hariri said in the remarks released Thursday by his office.

"The government has no common ground except the status quo imposed by Hizbullah by means of arms and by a decision made by Syrian President Bashar Assad to link Lebanon’s fate with that of the Syrian regime.”

The Lebanese “are also astounded by a government unable to uncover the truth behind the successive security incidents,” Hariri said.

Four Hizbullah members have been indicted by the Special Tribunal (STL) for the March 2005 assassination of billionaire prime minister Rafiq Hariri, who was Saad Hariri's father. The Hizbullah-led March-8 Coalition subsequently brought down Saad Hariri's government over his backing of the STL in November 2009.

Hizbullah has consistently derided the Special Tribunal as being an 'imperialist' and 'Zionist' plot, adamantly refused to hand over the indictees, thereby blocking the current government from meeting Lebanon's international obligations to the tribunal.

Hariri has been absent from public life in Lebanon since the toppling of his national unity government, but the Future Movement's increasing opposition to the Hizbullah-backed Mitaki government - and his own recent public statements - have led many to believe he may be planning a return to politics.